Memoirs of a Skeleton
by thehatt
Summary: Set a few days after The Nightmare Before Christmas ended. Jack and Sally are together, Dr. Finklestein is jealous. Lock, Shock, and Barrel get a new master. Jack finds out about his past, many surprises. After 5 years, MUCH AWAITED CHAPTER 4 IS UP!
1. Remembrance

**DISCLAIMER:** These characters aren't mine in any way shape or form. The idea is all that is mine. And Morticia. Besides those, Halloween town, Jack, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, Lock, Shock, and Barrel all belong to the genius that is Tim Burton.

Chapter One

The snow outside fell steadily while the two creatures, rag doll and skeleton, looked outside at the most beautiful scene they had looked upon in all their years. The rag doll, Sally, would have been alive for one year that next summer. Though she was young, she was clever and quick, even more so than the skeleton standing next to her. The pumpkin king, Jack Skellington, was more of a one-track mind guy and sometimes got caught off course. Some things he didn't see immediately, like Sally did. That was why he loved her. She completed him. She had saved him and got him out of trouble many times this past Christmas, and he was thankful. Not that he hadn't ever saved her, though; he had saved her from Oogie Boogie and, in her eyes, saved her from Dr. Finklestein. He had rescued her freedom.

"Jack," she whispered, touching him lightly on the arm. He glanced down at her in a thoughtful manner. She looked up at him and whispered, "Remember when we first met?" A smile stretched across her sewn face and quickly spread to his skeletal one.

"Yes, of course I do. How could I forget?" he said, turning his tall, lanky body towards hers. "I remember it like it was yesterday…" he said, jokingly. She laughed. He loved it when he made her laugh. Her eyes lit up and her smile widened even more. "Really, I remember it well. You were sneaking out of the doctor's house and you bumped into me. It was quite funny." She sobered and looked up at him. She stood on her tiptoes and he bent down for a kiss, but she veered off to the side of his face to where his ear would have been and whispered, "Was it snowing?"

He stopped smiling for a second, and then the memory came flooding back to him. It was early November, and it was just below freezing. The snow was light and it seemed to dissolve on his bones immediately after contact. For Sally, he had noticed that the snowflakes seemed to melt into her sewn skin. The snow was inside her; she _was_ the snow. Her beauty captivated him at first site.

"Yes," he said, reliving that night, "Yes, it was." She pulled back from the side of his face and kissed him. She took his hand and led him outside, into the snow. He was reliving the moment again; he had a memory…he _remembered_…Sally started dancing in the snow, twirling about as it slowly began to sink into her skin. For a split second, she started to look like someone else. Her face flashed and she looked different, and yet, familiar at the same time, as if he knew the person that she had momentarily been. But as soon as it started, it stopped. She was Sally. He almost doubted that he had seen any change in her at all.

* * *

She noticed his hesitation. Was he remembering something? He always had trouble remembering…he remembered nothing about who he was before he died at all, and Sally thought this would jog his memory a bit. A bit of snow made anyone more magical at heart. Maybe this would open up his mind. She continued twirling about, and when he didn't join in, she grabbed his bony hands and started dancing with him in the snow. A grin slowly spread across his face and the expression was gone. He was his old self. Though, he never really did change from his old self in the first place. She shook her head and continued dancing. Nothing was odd about him anymore, which was for sure. He was Jack. Jack Skellington. She was Sally. Just plain Sally. They were both ordinary people here in this town, and there was nothing more to put it. They just kept dancing to the silent rhythm of their hearts.

* * *

The town had thanked Jack for rescuing Sally and coming back, and now he was the town hero again. Jack had never really wanted to be the hero for anything other than being himself, so this was actually an accomplishment. The other times he had been praised were to congratulate him on scaring some children, which he really didn't put any heart into at all. Though, after this year's fiasco, he had some new ideas that would really make them scream. And, by God, he was really going to give it all his might. Still, the festivities were over, and it was time to clean up the town and prepare for Halloween next year. Sally had been living with Jack in his tower ever since Dr. Finklestein had gotten a new maid/wife (which was only a couple of days ago), so she helped him clean up Jack's decorations from his brainstorming binge last Christmas. She took down some Christmas lights and began thinking of what she would be doing right now if Jack hadn't fallen in love with her. Well, she'd still be under the control of Dr. Finklestein's, that's for sure. She wouldn't be taking down Christmas lights at all. She actually still might be out on the streets. Who knows, she was with Jack now, and it was all the better.

"Can you imagine if I never killed Oogie Boogie, how different our lives would be?" Jack asked, cutting through the silence as he took down some ornaments on his tree. Sally sometimes wondered how Jack always knew what she was thinking.

"Yes," she said. She was about to add all the things she just thought, but she then realized, if Jack had never shown up at Oogie's in the first place, Sally would be a pile of goop. "I'd be dead," The rustle of movement stopped behind her as she realized that Jack hadn't thought about that.

"You're right…you'd be dead," Jack said solemnly. Sally turned around and looked at him. He was just standing there, with a frosty Christmas ball in his bony hand, looking serious. She walked up to him and pulled the Christmas ornament out of his hand and set it in the box.

"You saved me, remember?" she kissed him lightly on the lips (well, where his lips _would_ be...) and pulled back. "You needn't worry about a thing." She smiled at him. It seemed to take him a while to smile back.

* * *

Jack just realized that he could have lost Sally many times. When she ran away, when she was locked up in Dr. Finklestein's tower, when she was down in Oogie's lair…he realized how fragile she was. If Oogie were still alive, he would probably go after Sally to get to him. Fortunately, he didn't have any more enemies. Oogie was dead; Lock, Shock, and Barrel were master-less, so they weren't as evil as they were, and they certainly wouldn't ever want to go after Jack. There weren't any more enemies in Halloween town. It was a very friendly place.

If Sally ever died, Jack wouldn't know what to do. Sally was his other half, she knew everything about him, and she was trying to help him remember his past. He couldn't remember what had happened to him in his past life. He guessed it had something to do with an electrical chair, but that was about it.

"Are you tired, Jack?" Sally asked. He had been silent for a moment.

"Yes, a bit. The last few days have been hectic. What, with taking over Christmas and all," He smiled; finally, a smile.

"Well, maybe you should get some rest," She suggested. He shook his head and motioned to all of his decorations.

"I have to get all of these down before tomorrow morning," Sally loved it how he was so diligent.

"Alright, we won't stop till morning," Sally said firmly. They worked silently for a few minutes, and then Jack spoke up again.

"Speaking of Oogie, do you think he might have had a gambling problem?" Sally looked up at him, not sure if he was kidding or not. Jack was grinning wide.

"Oh, Jack," Sally said, laughing, "of course he did. He was down there for what, a few years? Actually, I have no idea…" Sally was at a loss at this new feeling. She usually always knew what to do and had all the information and knew about everything…now, all of a sudden, she didn't.

"Well, to tell you the truth, he and Dr. Finklestein were business partners for sometime before Oogie even built that place," Jack said. Sally was taken aback. Dr. Finklestein and Oogie Boogie? Partners? "I think they were working on engineering stuff or something. I know that Dr. Finklestein was in charge of all the scientific material, but Oogie was in charge of all the electronics. I don't know exactly what company they were working for or what the cause was, but they bought the old shack down by the pumpkin patch that Lock, Shock, and Barrel live in now. They both retired after a couple of years, and then went their separate ways. So Oogie only lived down there for a couple of years. I guess Lock, Shock, and Barrel kept him company. But I wasn't always sure why he became an alcoholic."

"He sure did have a problem with that, didn't he?" Sally asked, eager to learn more.

"Yes, he sure was. I think he couldn't cope with the fact that he was made out of bugs or he had singing skeletons in his dungeon. He sang quite a lot down there, too. That was probably the alcohol, too." Both Jack and Sally laughed.

"I never knew that Dr. Finklestein had an old partner," Sally said.

"Oh yeah, they were partners years before you were made. I think after the doctor was left alone for about two years with only Igor to keep him company, he began to make you." Jack said.

"How do you know all this?" she asked.

"Everybody knew it, we just all forgot, I guess..." there it was, the topic of forgotten things. Sally immediately noticed this, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll remember someday. I promise. We'll find a way."

"I hope so."

* * *

Dr. Finklestein sat hunched over in his wheelchair near the wall, looking at the frost gathering on the windows. This annoyed him; he couldn't see the snow outside. He wanted to call to his new wife, Morticia, to bring him outside – but she couldn't. She had a knife in her skull.

Her problem was that she was acting too much like Sally. She cooked the same as Sally did, she spoke the same way Sally did…he had made Morticia different for a reason, not to be just like his old failure of a servant. Sally was so perfect in every aspect except being a servant, what was the thinking? Nobody could ever replace her; her charm, her beauty…stupid Jack Skellington. He had to dispose of Morticia; she was no use to him anymore.

He needed more servants. Igor wasn't helping. He was just bringing plans and eating dog biscuits. All he was doing was making the dog biscuits low in supply and wasting paper. If he had multiple servants, that would be acceptable, but who?! Who could surpass Sally? She was the goddess of all servants.

Stupid Jack Skellington. He stole Sally away from him. Just like he stole Oogie away from him. Sure, Oogie and he had lost touch over the years, but that still didn't mean that Jack didn't hurt him by killing Oogie. Oogie had good servants too. What were those brats named? Lock, Shock, and Barrel. That's right. They were acceptable substitutes. He could use them for many things. Many…tests.

"Igor!" Dr. Finklestein called out into his mansion. The call echoed for a bit, then the slow wheezing and dragging noise of Igor filled his ears. He spun his wheelchair around to face him.

"Yes, Master?" he wheezed.

"Go fetch me Lock, Shock, and Barrel. You remember the old shack by the pumpkin patch that we used to live in?" Igor nodded, "Good. Go get them as soon as you can, and tell them that their old master's partner is willing to give them work again." Igor nodded and was off to fetch the trick-or-treaters. Dr. Finklestein rotated his wheelchair back to facing the windows, and watched Igor step out into the freezing cold and start his journey.

His gaze traveled over to the Skellington house. He cursed it under his breath. That whole tower was ugly and degraded the whole town. _His_ mansion was much nicer than _Jack's_ skinny old tower. How was he the pumpkin king anyway? How could he get to have so much power, when he didn't have to do anything at all? All he accomplished was being the tallest person in the town. Pumpkins are fat. Skeletons are skinny. How could a skeleton be the pumpkin king? Who cares if he was "heir to the throne"? His parents weren't even _in_ Halloween town, let alone rule here.

Jack couldn't even remember his past. Well, the doctor did. It wasn't pretty. A fire flashed behind his eyes, making him blink. A scream echoed somewhere in the back of his mind, a cry for help. He closed his eyes. He couldn't do anything; his legs were broken…laughter, all around him…a burning sensation all over his skin…the doctor opened his eyes. It was still snowing. He hated thinking of Jack. Thinking of Jack meant thinking about his past. Jack was apart of his past. It wasn't his fault that he had given her the wrong medicine…it wasn't his fault that she had died. But of course, Jack wanted revenge, and when Jack Skellington wants something, he always gets it.

But Jack died, in the end. The electric chair was his timeless end. Unfortunately, Jack chose the same fate, as Dr. Finklestein had, to go to Halloween town and live for eternity instead of going to hell. The odd thing was that Jack didn't remember his past. The doctor did. He wanted to forget so badly, but he couldn't. Jack got it easy, yet again.

The doctor wheeled himself away from the window. All this thinking was making him sick. He didn't want to think about Sally, or Jack, for that matter. Thinking of them just reminded him how dull his life really was. They were probably having a grand time, up in that ugly skinny mansion, taking down Christmas tree ornaments…Dr. Finklestein looked around his own mansion. The only decorations in the house were the bones of the rejected reindeer he had built for last Christmas piled in the corner at the edge of the room. He wouldn't clean those up, Igor would.

That stupid son of his. Igor was just a failure at life. He had burned along with him, so many years ago…he could literally remember it like it was yesterday. He thought back to all those years ago, before Sally even existed, when he was partners with Oogie Boogie. He closed his eyes yet again, and remembered once more.

* * *

"Oogie, would you pass me those blueprints of the forest?" the doctor asked, looking down at the blueprint he already had, one hand extended for the new blueprints. Oogie complied, and handed him three stacks of blueprints, one part of the forest etched onto them in precise detail.

"These are the forest in detail, but these over here show an overview of the forest as a whole," Oogie explained as he handed the doctor the new blueprints.

"I see," the doctor said, carefully looking over the plans, his glasses about an inch away from the paper, "we need to work on this gap right here," he said, pointing a stubby finger at one point in the design.

"Alright. I'll get to work on it. You work on the scientific aspect of it, I'll work on building it," the doctor nodded. Oogie went off, humming a jazz tune.

* * *

The door opening behind him interrupted Dr. Finklestein's thoughts. It was Igor, with the three trick-or-treaters.

"My, that was fast," the doctor exclaimed.

"I was gone for a while, sir," Igor said, nervous, "you must have dozed off."

"Yes…I must have," the doctor said. He motioned for Igor to leave, and that left Lock, Shock, and Barrel alone with the doctor.

"You have a proposition for us?" Lock asked.

"Yes. You will work for me now. Be my butlers, my chefs, and my maids. Do everything to me, as you did for Oogie."

"Oogie never let us…" Shock tried to say, but was cut off.

"Silence. You will do these things for me or I'll send you back in the cold." The trio looked slightly insulted.

"Fine. Then we'll live in the cold, it's not that bad…" Lock said.

"We wouldn't want to work for you anyway," Shock added.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that if I were you…" the doctor said.

"Oh yeah? What can you do to us?" Lock said, grinning at Shock. At that moment, Igor dragged the body of dead Morticia across the entryway and out the door. Her face, which looked so much like Dr. Finklestein's, was twisted into a surprised "oh!" and her red lipstick, which contrasted against her pale skin, was smeared across her cheek from falling on her hand and smudging it. The knife in her skull slowly dragged across the floor, making a slow scraping sound. Her purple dress crinkled as she was tossed out into the snow and thrown into a hole pre-made for her. Igor began digging three small holes next to it. The doctor looked at their terrified faces and smiled.

"You will work for me, and do what I say, or you will get the same fate as dear Morticia," he whispered.

"Yes, sir." The trio replied.

"Good. Now, we have work to do." 


	2. Death and Evil Schemes

DISCLAIMER: These characters aren't mine in any way shape or form. The idea is all that is mine. Besides that, Halloween town, Jack, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, Lock, Shock, and Barrel all belong to the genius that is Tim Burton.

**WARNING: **This has many references to blood and many disgusting things to read (and write about). This chapter is why this fiction is rated R.

Chapter two

She was cleaning the windows when he came in and saw her. It had been ages, it seemed, since he had seen her, but she didn't look as if she noticed him.

"Sally," he called out to her. She didn't turn around. He repeated her name, hoping that she would notice him, he needed to see her face just once more...yet she continued to clean the windows, her arm going in a smooth, circular motion and paid him no attention at all. There seemed to be music coming from somewhere, going in exact tempo as Sally's strokes.

"Sally!" he cried out to her. He _needed_ to see her. It was an obsession; his life would end if she didn't turn around this instant and notice him. "Look at me!" he screamed. "_Acknowledge me!_ " still, no answer. "**_Love me!_** "

* * *

Dr. Finklestein jolted awake. It was only a dream. He hadn't really meant that. He had never loved Sally. She was only his servant, his excuse for someone to talk to.

"Igor!" he called out angrily. It was dreadfully silent, compared to his dream. There seemed to be music playing in the background, accentuating her soft auburn hair and her pale blue skin...no, it was just a dream. Dreams didn't mean anything.

"Igor!" he called again. What was it with people and not hearing him? Igor soon came hobbling out of the hallway and into his bedroom. "Bring me my chair," he obeyed immediately; he swerved the doctor's wheelchair up to his bed, picked him up, and carefully set him in it.

Dr. Finklestein wheeled himself over to the window near his bed. His gaze traveled, once again, over to the Skellington house. _What an ugly tower. Who would buy a tower like that?! Only Jack. Why would Sally ever want to live in a place like that when she had a beautiful tower like _this_?_ The doctor glanced around his own tower. It was nice, why would anyone hate it here? _Maybe Jack is her reason for moving. Perhaps he brainwashed her into thinking that he loved her and that's why she moved. Not the tower. I'm sure she's realizing what she left behind. Perhaps I could help her._ He began thinking.

"Tell Lock to sweep the floor of my lab. Shock should start preparing breakfast. Barrel...I need to see him personally," Igor obeyed and left the room.

* * *

"Good morning," a voice whispered softly to Sally, who was lying across the bed on her back with her hand slung over her eyes. She slowly opened them, focusing on Jack's hollow eye sockets.

"Good morning," she replied, smiling. She sat up and looked around the room. Christmas-free and spotless. "We did a nice job last night, don't you think?" she asked. He was quiet for a moment. She turned around and looked at him. He was staring at a spot on the wall, his head slowly turning to look around the room.

"Remember?" Sally said, hiding the panic in her voice. Jack was forgetting more frequently nowadays. She wished that he would just _remember _for once... "Jack, last night?" He looked at her with a blank expression on his face. "We cleaned up your room. It had decorations from last Christmas in it." A blank look. "Jack, please, remember..."she said, pleadingly. Realization enveloped his face and he suddenly brightened up and smiled.

"Yes, I remember now. The decorations from when I came up with the idea to take over Christmas. Yes, I remember," Sally felt relieved.

"Jack, when is this going to get better?" she asked, touching his skull lightly.

"I don't know, Sally...I'm not sure why it's happening either," he looked confused. "I'm sorry I'm putting you through his. I don't know how it started, so I don't know how it's going to stop," he glanced at her face. Sally felt hopeless. _Is he just going to keep forgetting and forgetting? Will he eventually forget that he loves me? _

"Jack, I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid that you'll wake up one day and forget who you are," she said, pleadingly..._I wish this would just go away..._

"I love you, Sally. You are a part of me and I can never forget you, so I can never forget who I am. You help me remember. Thank you," he hugged her. She leaned into the embrace and inhaled deeply.

"I love you, Jack," she whispered. A moment's pause.

"I love you too, Sally."

* * *

"Barrel," the doctor said, staring menacingly down at the small boy, "I have a special job for you," Barrel waited. "Well, you should be excited, boy, should you not?! I'm giving you a unique job, apart from the slave work your siblings must oblige to! Show some enthusiasm!" It took Barrel a while to comply. He eventually feebly bobbed up and down once, and said, whispered,

"Yay," the doctor silently rolled his eyes. _Great. I picked the stupid one. Oh well, he'll die anyway. _The doctor opened his mouth and considered how he should respond to this obvious lack of respect. He decided to let it slide.

"Good. Now, you will follow me down to the dungeon. We must build something. Do you like explosives, boy?" Barrel gave a small nod. "Good," the doctor said, wheeling his way towards the dungeon, smiling balefully.

Shock glanced over at the stove. She was supposed to _cook_?! Yeah, right. Oogie Boogie never wanted them to cook. All he wanted them to do was bring him things to eat. Never actually _cook_... if Oogie were still alive, he would have stopped Dr. Finklestein from doing this. After all, old business partners had influence over what people did, most of the time. Though, the doctor might just be crazy. _He spend like, three years down here all by himself?! No wonder he built that rag doll. _The doctor wasn't much of a family guy, either, so why would he be pleased in the company of Igor, his only son? It's a shame his wife didn't decide to come down to Halloween town along with himself. _I wonder what happened to the doctor's wife. Well, he must have had a wife...unless they just, had a kid...eww...I don't want to think about that..._she giggled to herself. She sighed. _What am I supposed to do around here? _She stood on a stool and looked through the cabinets in the kitchen; some Fog Juice, Wormswort, Deadly Night Shade..._Deadly Night Shade? _Shock began to get ideas...

* * *

Sally looked out the tower window to her old home. The fat, ugly tower loomed back at her, almost calling to her...she turned away. _I never want to step foot in that place again._ She began to wonder if the doctor was being served well by his new wife. She was probably his most precious dream. Sally rolled her eyes. It wasn't _her _fault that she had turned out the way she did. It was his fault, after all. He made her. She looked down at the stitching on her arm and started picking at it. The sewing slowly came undone and she stared at the paper that was inside her. Slowly, she took some out and looked at it. This was what she was made out of. Thin sheets of paper. How wonderful. She jammed the sheets back up her arm, forcefully took out her sewing needle, and began stitching herself up. _Jack needs help. He needs his memory back; he needs a doctor. _She paused, turned around and looked out the window. _But the only doctor is Doctor Finklestein..._ she turned around. _Well, If _I_ don't have to go in, I'm fine. He can go by himself. If it's the only thing that will help him..._

"Jack," she called out into the distance. She heard him coming up the stairs behind her. She didn't turn around, but kept looking out the window.

"Sally, what is it?" he said as soon as he came within arms reach. Sally kept looking out the window.

"You remember Doctor Finklestein, don't you?" A pause. Sally closed her eyes forcefully and willed him to remember.

"Yes. I remember him. The guy in the wheelchair, right?" Sally nodded.

"I think he can help you,"

* * *

"Good, Barrel. Yes, just connect that wire to that one...that's a good boy," the doctor rolled his eyes. He hated being this nice. Actually, he hated children. Especially stupid ones who didn't know what they were doing and obeyed every single thing that they were told. But, well, that was the good part – they would do whatever he said. Perhaps even die. The doctor smiled.

"Like this?"

"Yes. Just like that, you've got it. Now, stay in this room and let me go outside. I need to test something," the doctor wheeled himself away from the padded room. It looked a lot like a room for the insane, where people in straight jackets would go. Just as well, it was used to deafen the sound of explosives. As soon as the doctor got out of the room, he shut the steel door tightly and dead bolted it. Barrel gave a frightened cry.

"It's all right, Barrel, this is just for your protection," he yelled. He didn't care if he had heard him or not. Doctor Finklestein then wheeled himself into another room with a window into the padded room, where he could see. It was about as big as his head, and as big as the glass in the door. There was a control panel in front of him with many buttons. He selected one and his finger hovered over it. Barrel sat in the room, oblivious, watching the doctor smiling at him.

"Now, can you hear me?" the doctor asked. Barrel nodded.

"Can I leave?" he asked. The doctor rolled his eyes.

"No. Now, where is the explosive?" Barrel pointed to something that was right under the window. "Move it to the back," he instructed. Barrel obliged. The explosive now sat near the back of the room, waiting, while Barrel sat near the front, wondering what the doctor was doing.

"Now. Close your eyes. I don't want you to see what will happen; it's a surprise," he said. Barrel closed his eyes. The doctor smiled. He pushed the button. A dull thud was heard as the explosive went off. The doctor watched as everything in the room exploded to pieces.

* * *

Shock heard a dull thud, but thought nothing of it. The doctor must be experimenting. She abruptly looked up as Lock walked into the room. He looked like he had been working.

"What have you been doing?" she asked.

"Cleaning up his lab. It's disgusting. Igor...I don't think he's, ah, _trained,"_ Shock looked confused.

"To do what?" Lock looked uncomfortable.

"Erm, to, uh, use the ...uh, restroom,"

"Oh, _disgusting_!" Shock looked appalled. Then, she began laughing. "You had to clean it up!!! Oh, that's _great_! Wait till Barrel hears about this!" they both started laughing.

"I wonder what he had to do," Lock said aloud. Shock shrugged.

"Something Barrel-like, I don't know. We'll ask him tonight," she said. She pictured her little brother's face as they told him about Lock having to clean up feces. She smiled.

The doctor then wheeled into the room, smiling.

"There's something that you need to clean up downstairs,"

* * *

"He can help me? Sally, I though the was evil..." Jack said, staring at her unbelievably.

"I know, I know," she said, walking toward the middle of the room, "I just think that it's our only hope. I mean, he's a doctor, isn't he? He'll probably know what to do...and you just need to watch him wherever he goes, and make sure he doesn't give you some pill to make you die slowly or something dreadful like that..." Sally said, restlessly. Jack began to think. _Well, if Sally wants me to go...I'll go..._

"Alright. I'll go," Sally turned around and grinned at him. She ran up and leaped into his arms. He laughed, and then felt for sure that this would help; going to the doctor's house would solve the problem and Sally wouldn't be so worried anymore, and then they could get married and live in peace...he smiled honestly. "Thank you for mentioning this to me. I think it would help. When should I go?" Sally looked at the grandfather clock. It was noon.

"Now would be the best time, I think. Don't you?"

"Yes. The earlier the better," Jack set Sally down and began to walk towards the stairway. He looked back at Sally. She looked beautiful, standing in the light of the window. "I love you," Sally smiled warmly at him.

"I love you too,"

* * *

Shock opened the door to the room that they were supposed to clean. A stench of blood sprang to her nostrils and she immediately retreated, not believing what she was seeing...what she was supposed to clean...her brother looked at her and the stared into the room.

"I can't...I can't..." she said to him. "You go...I can't look and see what that is..." Lock looked at her again and walked into the room. He almost slipped on the blood. The room was covered in red. There were some soot marks from what seemed to be some explosive, and over by the window...

Lock stomach heaved. No, it couldn't be...

"Barrel. Barrel, my God, it's Barrel...Shock..." a pause, "...he killed Barrel..." Shock almost collapsed, leaning against the wall.

"What??!" She gained her strength and walked into the room and the sight met her eyes. Barrels head, burst into what seemed like a million pieces, all smeared on the window, the blood marks of his broken body laying on the floor...

"Oh God...Barrel...our little brother, Barrel..."

"Well?! Clean it up then!" the doctor had wheeled up behind them in their brief mourning period. Shock slowly turned around and stared into the doctor's glasses with pure hatred.

"I will make sure you die slowly and painfully," Shock whispered. The doctor looked unfazed.

"Not if I kill you first," he smiled. "Clean it up, if you don't want to be next," he said, amused.

Shock looked over at Lock, her eyes passing over the devastation that was Barrel. Understanding passed through both of their eyes, and they picked up their rags, mops, and buckets (they were also handed a bag for the whole parts of his body) and started cleaning. The rags were useless, a small amount of blood would fill them up. They used the mops and filled the buckets, and by the time they had cleaned up most of the spilt blood, they began mopping and scrubbing the blood stains that had gotten into the foamy walls. Lock picked up the whole pieces of his little brother: a finger, a toe, a tooth. Smoldered strands of hair. The tears running down Shock's faces burned as she scrubbed the walls, always hating the doctor, always. She vowed vengeance on her brother. She didn't notice when the doctor left. She just kept scrubbing the remains of her brother.

* * *

The doctor opened the door. The doorbell had rang while he was observing Barrel's cleaning; he didn't want anyone else to see what they were doing, so he wheeled himself over to the door.

"Jack Skellington!" he said, sounding nicely surprised. Though, inside, a totally different emotion took place. _What is he doing here? Who sent him here? Has he found out about my plan? Of course not. Nobody could figure out my plan. Has he, perhaps, dumped Sally and wants me to take her? Maybe the boy has some sense in him. What does he want?_

"Doctor. I have a problem, and I was hoping that you would be able to fix it," the doctor smiled. _This is too perfect._

"Of course, my boy, come in, come in. What is it that I can help you with?" the doctor looked expectantly up at him, a hidden hunger in his eyes.

"Well, I've been forgetting lately...I can't remember things as well as I used to, I mean," he gave a hearty laugh, "I can't even remember my past," the doctor twitched, "and so I was wondering if there was any medication I could take to help me remember the little things. Not necessarily my past, but ever since I got here in Halloween town."

"And how long ago was that?" Jack paused.

"I...I don't remember," Jack frowned, "You see, _this_ is what I'm talking about. I forget the little things. And frankly, I'm quite tired of it. Can you help me?"

"Yes, in fact, I can. Follow me," he lead Jack down to his lab, careful to lead him away from the door that lead one through to the underground testing area.

"There is a place where one can go to rediscover his past," the doctor said, looking somber. Jack looked intrigued.

"Where is this place?"

"Let me finish, boy," the doctor snapped. Jack was startled. "Now...you remember after last Halloween, when you found the circle of trees that lead you to different holidays?" A pause. The doctor looked expectantly at him.

"I...I don't..." the doctor waited. _He'll remember soon. _Realization struck Jacks' face. "Yes, I remember that...yes, of course I remember..." he smiled, remembering Christmas-town, and the feeling that was filling up inside of him, that was empty before...this happy memory made him temporarily forget what he was here for. _There I go, forgetting again... _"What...was I here for?" he asked tentatively.

"Your memory," the doctor said, "There is a circle of trees that you must go to. It will take you to the past. You will see your past, but you will not be able to change a thing; you'll be invisible. Perhaps you can see if you did anything that made you forget. But, by seeing your past, you will remember it. But you mustn't tell dear Sally about this plan," Jack interjected immediately,

"Why not?!"

"Because she will try to go with you. This is for your past. Not hers. You need to do this alone,"

"But why can't I let her at least know where I'm going?"

"Because. She might not let you go, even though it's to figure out why you're forgetting so many things. Trust me," Jack did.

"Alright. Where is this place?" the doctor smiled to himself and started drawing a map of the circle of trees he and Oogie Boogie had constructed a long time ago.

* * *

Jack left the doctor's tower, map in hand, and a letter in another. It was a letter to Sally, telling her that he had to go away for a while. Not telling her where he was going, but he had some things to do that she couldn't help him with. He tried to make it as loving as possible. Later, he would wonder why he didn't go back and see her one last time.


	3. Barriers

DISCLAIMER: These characters aren't mine in any way shape or form. The idea is all that is mine. Besides that, Halloween town, Jack, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, Lock, Shock, and Barrel all belong to the genius that is Tim Burton.

Chapter Three  
Barriers

_Dear Sally,  
__I will not return soon. I need to leave Halloween town for a while, and I cannot tell you what I am up to, for I can only do these things alone, without you. I am truly sorry…I love you with all of my heart, and I will return as soon as possible. _

_I love you,  
__Jack_

Sally slowly lowered the letter in her shaking hands. So, Jack had left her. _Perhaps Dr. Finklestein had done something to him to make him leave? Or maybe he made Jack believe that he had to go somewhere to remember his past…what if he got lost, wherever he was going? He's in no condition to be outside of Halloween town, alone, with no one to talk to or remind him of who he is…what if he loses himself? What if he forgets who he is when he comes back home, and forgets who I am?_ The letter seemed rather distant. Her suspicions about Dr. Finklestein grew.

She looked out the window at the path that lead away from the tower. Where was he now? In the forest? Maybe he was thinking about returning home, back to her. _Jack…please come back to me…

* * *

_

Shock sat in numb silence at the corner of the room, tears slowly streaming down her face. The doctor had killed her little brother. Even worse, in one of his _experiments_. She was so hurt by this act of cruelty that she couldn't even wrap her mind around the fact that her youngest brother was dead; he was never coming back. She wondered about Barrel's thoughts before he was blown to pieces. Was he scared? Anxious? Intrigued? Shock glanced up as Dr. Finklestein wheeled into the room, then quickly looked down at her tattered, blood-stained dress.

"So…not working, are you?" Shock considered her words before she spoke them.

"No. Considering that my brother has just been killed and I've just had to clean up his remains, I'd rather not," She could feel his cold gaze on the back of her neck. She felt his smile in his next words.

"Well, we'll just have to get over that, won't we? We wouldn't want to be next, would we?" The doctor's voice was eerily kind. She sneaked a peek at his face, and then quickly looked down again.

"Please," she said, wringing her hands together, her strong outside shell cracking, "please let me have some time to mourn him," Silence followed. Shock's anticipation grew until it was almost unbearable…

"No. You will start cleaning the kitchen, and then cook me lunch. Do it or you shall suffer the same fate as your brother," Shock slowly closed her eyes as her heart seemed to split in two. She knew the doctor didn't have any heart in him. She slowly got up and began to work, hiding the tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

Jack began walking into the forest thinking only of Sally. Not of his journey ahead, but of his one and only love…he wished that he could have seen her before he left. He hated leaving her with only a note…he was terrible at notes, anyway. _She probably thinks that I've left her for good. _That thought stopped Jack in his tracks. _Should I go back? She's probably worried sick about me. _Jack thought about the doctor's words. "_This is for your past. Not hers. You need to do this alone."_ "_She might not let you go, even though it's to figure out why you're forgetting so many things. Trust me." _As crazy as the doctor was, Jack believed him. Sally wouldn't want him to go, or she'd want to go with him. Sally worried about him too much. Jack laughed to himself softly; he could take care of himself! He had lived in Halloween town for…_well, I can't really remember that…but that's the reason that I'm going to this circle of trees! To figure out my past! Sally won't worry anymore…_

Many hours later, Jack came to the clearing where the holiday trees were found. He took out the folded map that the doctor gave him out of his coat pocket and stretched it out over the back of a tree trunk, observing its contents. According to this map, he was supposed to go left for a couple of hours until he hit a river, then turn onto the hidden path to the right for another hour, where he would find himself where he needed to be. He looked around the clearing, remembering vividly the morning that he had stumbled upon these trees. He cautiously stepped inside the circle and looked around. His eyes went straight to the Christmas tree, and he smiled softly as he remembered the sights and the sounds that Christmas Town held…he reached for the handle. He abruptly pulled his hand back. _No. I can't go into Christmas Town again. I need to find the Trees of Memory. _Jack quickly stepped out of the circle, not giving the Christmas tree a second, longing glance, and started on his journey.

* * *

Doctor Finklestein cautiously peered into his study and checked for Igor. No one was in the room, so he wheeled himself inside the spotless room. He had just ordered Lock to clean it, and he had done a good job. Both the children had been so frightened of being killed next that they had done whatever the doctor had asked them. He was getting quite amused by this whole circumstance, and he planned to take everything to the highest advantage. He was even more amused by the fact that the children were soon going to die as well; they were just prolonging their lives by serving him. If he were in that position, the sooner he died, the better. But then again, children were stupid. They only did what they wanted, what they thought they wanted, and didn't think about the outcome ahead. He wheeled once again to the window and looked out over the hill to Jack's house, where Sally was staying. He smiled. She would die soon, too, if he got his way…if everything went to plan and he wasn't forced to kill Lock and Shock, then the plan would go very smoothly indeed. 

"Lock, Shock! In here. _Now!_" the doctor waited while the children scurried up to where he was sitting by the window.

"Yes?" Lock asked, looking brave. Shock didn't look the doctor in the eyes.

"I have a job for you," the doctor said, a smile slowly spreading across his ugly face.

* * *

Jack slowly walked down the trail of the forest, searching for the Trees of Memory. He wondered what he would find there…would he really see his past? On the other hand, could this possibly be a twisted way for Dr. Finklestein to get back at him? _But…I haven't done anything…_ Jack began to think of Dr. Finklestein's enemies and could think of nobody. He had the faint memory of someone, a girl, perhaps, but he couldn't conjure up her face in his mind…Jack stopped dead in his tracks. _I'm forgetting something important, I know it…_Where had he been staying for the past few months? _S…Susan…Samanth- Sally! _Jack continued to walk. He had almost forgotten his beloved's name. What was wrong with him? He needed to get to these trees, and fast. He looked ahead to see if he could calculate the distance it would take to get to the trees. He couldn't see anything. 

Jack took out the map in his bony hand and looked at the path again. He had already crossed the river and turned onto the secret path, but how much farther would he have to go? If this continued any longer, then he would have to turn back. He continued walking anyways. _I can't waste anymore time – I might forget everything that I care about…_ Just as Jack was losing hope, he spotted a small clearing ahead of him. He stopped walking and stared in awe.

It was a small circle of trees, but they didn't look real. They looked manufactured, somehow. Built by men, or monsters, Jack couldn't decide which. The bark was translucent, but he could still tell that they were trees. The leaves seemed metal and shiny, and there were no animals on the semi-transparent branches. Jack wondered if he would have noticed the trees if he hadn't been looking for them in the first place. Jack continued walking towards the clearing and stepped into the middle of the circle. Still holding the map, he glanced down at it with a confused look on his face. _What now?_ All the map had instructed him to do was to come to the clearing. Jack didn't know which door he was supposed to enter, or if he was even supposed to go _through_ a door.

Jack began to get angry. _That fool of a doctor. He tricked me into coming here so – so… so he could get Sally?_ Realization suddenly swept through him and he quickly spun around, fully intending to run out of the circle of trees and back to Halloween town. But he couldn't. A very faint (but apparent) wall connected each of the trees together, creating a large blockade surrounding him. He was trapped.

* * *

After being informed of Dr. Finklestein's plan, Lock and Shock went carefully into their separate rooms to get ready for their task. Lock thought to himself as he found all the black clothing he owned and tried to put together an appropriate ensemble. _Maybe the Doctor isn't as bad as we thought… he has good intentions. Maybe Barrel really wasn't a good person so he just killed him off. And Jack, boy, he deserves to die, after what he did to the Doctor. The Doctor deserves his revenge. And Sally, she did him wrong, too. So what he's doing is completely reasonable. Who knows, maybe I'll become just like the Doctor and be feared by everyone and have a lot of power… and brains, too. Man, those explosives are so cool! You know, I never really liked Barrel anyways. And Shock is just getting annoying. So maybe the Doctor will kill her off, too, and he and I will be partners in crime… boy, that'd be the life…_

Meanwhile…

Shock thought to herself as she slowly put together her own ensemble for the "adventure", as Lock called it, this afternoon. _I don't know if I can do this anymore… how can I work for someone as _evil _as the Doctor? And he'll keep sending us on missions like this until we die, I'm sure… how do I get out of it? Lucky Barrel – the Doctor killed him, so he doesn't have to worry about anything. He's dead. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll die next. _

Soon afterwards, Lock and Shock came out of their rooms with their appropriate garb for the afternoon's adventure and went to see Dr. Finklestein. He surveyed them carefully before nodding his approval, suppressing an evil smile, and then sent them on their way.

As the Doctor watched them leave, he began to laugh. Stupid, ignorant Sally. She'd finally get what she deserves. _She ran away from me… so I'll just steal her back. No one's there to save her, anyways…

* * *

_

Lock seemed to want to get there much quicker than Shock did; he was walking twice as fast as he usually did.  
"What are you _doing_?" Shock asked, walking slowly.  
"Well, we have to get to our destination soon, don't we? For the Doctor's plans. We don't' want to upset him," Lock said, in a reasonable tone.  
"But…" Shock tried to argue, but she knew he was right.  
"But what?" Lock stopped walking and looked at her with confusion.  
"Nothing," Shock said, walking past him. "We'd better get to the house before the Doctor suspects anything. We don't want to upset him, right?"  
Lock stared at her as she walked past. "Right," he said, slowly.

Soon, Lock and Shock stood outside the Skellington manor, fully armed in black clothing that covered their faces and equipped with a large, black bag. Both of them focused on their task at hand. Lock reached up to the eyeball and pulled, emitting a scream that echoed through the house.

* * *

Sally slowly turned around in the living room and peered through the window. Nobody was there. Yet, she was _sure_ that she had heard a scream of some sort. She shrugged it off. Maybe it was someone in the streets, practicing for next Halloween. She thought of this time last year, scrubbing floors in the Doctor's mansion and feeding him deadly night shade, and always looking up to Jack's skinny tower and wondering, no, _hoping_ that she would live there soon. And here she was. 

She closed her eyes and started dancing slowly through the living room, losing herself to the lullaby of her love for Jack. _Jack… I love you so much… Jack…_ she kept on slowly moving through the room, eyes closed. She remembered their first kiss atop the snow covered mountain above the pumpkin patch… she thought about the day when they would have their first child… she slowly opened her eyes to see where she was standing.

She was still in the house, but right in front of the front door. She looked around and suddenly everything felt so eerie. She wondered if she should open the door. She wondered what would be on the other side. Suddenly, she remembered that Jack had left her. She didn't know where Jack was. Tears filled her eyes and she reached for the doorknob, wondering if Jack would be on the other side. She twisted the doorknob and flung the door open.

Jack stood there, both of his eye sockets bleeding profusely, his ribs cracked and dangling off of his torn body. His jaw was hanging open and he wasn't looking at her. Sally screamed and Jack fell forward, hitting the floor and abruptly turning into dust. Sally sank to her knees in tears and knew that her beloved was dead. She looked up and saw Dr. Finklestein standing over him, laughing.

* * *

Upstairs, Sally's eyes snapped open. She remembered her dream vividly. She rolled over for Jack to comfort her, and then it all hit her like a sudden rainfall. Jack, leaving. The note. Being left alone. Sally flung herself out of bed, in denial. 

"Jack!" she screamed, looking around the room. Nothing. Panic seized her.

"Jack!" she tried again, her voice cracking. Again, nothing. And then she knew. He was gone. Jack leaving really wasn't just a dream. Her whole body seemed to sag as she realized the truth. Suddenly, the scream of the doorbell rang again. She remembered why she had woken up. _Maybe that's Jack!_ She thought.

Sally ran downstairs, trying not to trip as her excitement and anticipation grew. It was Jack, she knew it – he had come back to her, he had realized how stupid he had been, leaving her like this; she would apologize to him, sending him to Dr. Finklestein was a horrible idea; and everything would be right again. She flung open the door and almost immediately everything went black.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hey, guys. It's been, what, a year and a half? Of course, I've been caught up with school, and frankly I kind of forgot about where this story was going. I had it all planned out but then I just got stuck – I didn't know how to get to my destination. I know this isn't up to par with the rest of the chapters – I still think the first chapter is the best, writing-wise, but I'll get back up there. I have all my notes in front of me, and hopefully the chapters will be coming more and more frequently. Your reviews helped me finish this chapter; thank you! 


	4. Memories

DISCLAIMER: These characters aren't mine in any way shape or form. The idea and Sarah Skellington are all that is mine. Besides that, Halloween town, Jack, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, Lock, Shock, and Barrel all belong to the genius that is Tim Burton and Henry Selick.

**WARNING: **This has many references to blood and many disgusting things to read (and write about). This chapter is why this fiction is rated R.

Chapter Four  
Memories

The last thing Jack Skellington remembered was standing in a circle of trees, trapped behind a barrier. Then everything went black.

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Jack and Sarah Skellington were the happiest couple they could be. He was an engineer, and her family owned a bakery just down the river. It was just the two of them at first, and they relished the early years of married life. Each morning Sarah would wake up to the sounds of Jack singing in the shower, and she would make both of them pumpkin pancakes for breakfast- his favorite. He went to work and she spent her time at her family's bakery with her father, until the work day ended and she could be with her husband again. It was a simple and happy life.

One day, they decided to have a child. This resulted in several heated and R rated moments around their home, as they jumped on each other any chance they could get. The first few weeks were blissful and passionate, and they were eager to wait and see if Sarah was pregnant. After the first month, they were optimistic and vowed that they would conceive the next month. After the second month, he smiled at her sadly as she sat frustrated on their bed after finding out again that her monthly cycle had started, with no fetus to fertilize.

"Next month," he said. She looked at him and matched his cheerless smile, knowing in her heart that something was definitely wrong.

The year continued in this way, with optimism at the beginning of each month and then crushing defeat at each month's end. After the first year of trying with no success, they decided to go to the town's local doctor.

Dr. Finkelstein was a small, bald man with small round glasses, with duck-like lips that protruded slightly from his mouth when he talked. He smiled sweetly at the couple while they described their conceiving troubles to him, and gave them reassuring words of encouragement. This helped very little, and Sarah Skellington began to cry.

"Isn't there… _anything_ you can do for us?" she asked, between sobs. The doctor paused and sat, thinking for a while.

"In fact, there's an.. experimental treatment that a few desperate couples are trying—"

"We'll do it!" Sarah exclaimed. The doctor hesitated again.

"It's very experimental... they aren't so sure about the results.." the doctor looked both of them in the eye and cleared his throat. "I'm not sure I would advise…"

"Please, doctor," Jack's voice shook with excitement and something else, "Please. For my wife. You don't know what it's been like this past year. We'll try _anything_. Just.. give us a baby. A baby of our own. Please, that's all we ask of you. Please let us try the treatment."

The doctor looked at them for a long while and then smiled.

Jack and Sarah left the doctor's office later that afternoon, pills in hand, and fresh smiles on their faces.

The prescription called for taking the pills twice a day, with food. Side effects were quickly read over as a formality, and Sarah promptly started taking the pills that very same day. They kept to their old regimen: trying to conceive as much as they could, making Sarah lay down whenever she had free time, and relaxing. Jack sang to her before bedtime, and sang to her stomach as well- just in case.

The first month had passed, and now it was time to see if the treatment had worked. Days passed, and Sarah had not had her monthly cycle. They began to become optimistic. Two weeks passed, and still nothing. They took this as good news, and started to smile at each other more often, and Jack would sing loud, encouraging songs to her stomach whenever he could.

"Hallelujah, hallelujah!

Babyface, you've got the cutest little Babyface.

There is no other one could take your place, Babyface…"

After 3 months, Sarah's stomach began to protrude and they were ecstatic. A baby was on the way! Jack wished for a little girl that he could sing songs to, and Sarah couldn't care less about the gender- just that it was healthy and happy, and was born into a loving family. They hugged, they cheered, and they called Sarah's family and held a celebratory dinner all in honor of Dr. Finkelstein and his miracle pills.

At 4 months, Jack called Dr. Finkelstein and congratulated him on this fine research – the pills were working perfectly: Sarah was pregnant and they couldn't be happier! Dr. Finklestein was happy to hear the news, and shared a bit of news of his own: his own wife was pregnant as well!

"It's a fabulous time to be young and in love," Jack said.

"Indeed," the doctor would agree.

At 6 months, tragedy struck. Sarah woke one morning with terrible pains in her swollen belly, and blood on the bed sheet. Panicking, she roused Jack, and he quickly called the doctor that they had so recently celebrated with.

"She's bleeding and has terrible pains- what do we do?" his voice was filled with terror. The doctor was silent on the other end of the telephone line. Sarah screamed in the distance. Jack took the receiver away from his ear and stared at it. He then pressed his mouth to the mouth piece and screamed,

"Finkelstein! Tell me what to do!"

Silence, except for Sarah's screams of pain in the distance.

"Finkelstein!" he choked, trying to hold back tears. He heard Dr. Finkelstein clear his throat on the other end of the line.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing to be done. She's having a miscarriage, I'm afraid- and that was clearly spelled out as one of the risks in the pills I prescribed to you. I told you it was a risky chance… but you were so eager…" his voice trailed up at the end of his sentence. He cleared his throat and started over.

"I'm.. so sorry for your loss," he began, but Jack inturrupted him.

"Our _loss_? Nothing has been _lost_ yet, _Doctor_-" the last word he left dripping with sarcasm, "you're just going to sit there on the other side of this telephone line while you listen to my wife _screaming_ on the other end and tell me that there's _nothing to be done?_ What kind of a crack pot doctor are you?" Jack was heaving with the staggard breaths he was taking, and the conflicting urge to both slam down the phone as well as beg for help.

"_Jack!" _Sarah's scream was hard to miss, coming from the next room. Jack dropped the receiver and sprinted to where she was sitting on the bed, her hands between her legs. She was holding... something. His face turned white, and he fell backwards, slipping on the blood that was on the floor. His head hit the floor with a thud, and he thought no more.

* * *

The sound of sirens made him stir, and the first things he saw were flashing lights above him, and suddenly as if someone had flicked on a switch that controlled his hearing, he heard someone screaming orders near him. He was on the ground, laying in something sticky, but he couldn't recall how he had gotten there. He seemed to remember something about his wife and a phone call…

He looked around the bedroom. Paramedics were wheeling someone away on a stretcher, someone crying, and someone was attending to him. He tried to tell them that he was fine; he would just like to be helped up off the sticky floor.

The next thing he knew, he was sitting upright in a hospital bed with wires attached to him.

"You gave us quite a fright!" a voice said, near him. Jack turned his head and studied the man speaking to him- the duck-like lips, the smooth, bald head. _Finkelstein._

Unknown rage swelled up within him, and he lunged for the man's throat, intending to damage something- _anything-_ belonging to this man. His hands were held back by the wires that held them, and he struggled – however, this gesture was not missed by Finkelstein, who immediately took a step back. Jack couldn't explain his rage, and only knew that it was sitting up at the surface of his emotions, ready to strike.

"Jack- are you alright?" Dr. Finkelstein eyed him, ready to dodge another attack.

"Where's my wife?" Jack cut straight to the point. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew she was in trouble.

"Your wife.. your wife, she's in a room down the hall. I'm sorry, Jack- there was nothing we could do."

Jack's face turned into a color even more sickly than before. She couldn't be dead- could she?

"What?" The one word was all that Jack's frozen lips could manage.

"We couldn't save the baby, Jack. I'm sorry. We couldn't save your daughter."

The words hit Jack like falling stones. _The baby. My daughter._ It all came together- seeing his wife clutching the struggling infant between her legs, the blood all over the floor, his wife's screams… His eyes fell onto Dr. Finkelstein and the memory of their telephone conversation passed over Jack's mind. He chose his next words very carefully.

"You. Will. Pay." And those were the last words the living Jack Skellington ever said to him.

* * *

To an outsider, two weeks after the miscarriage, the Skellington's went on with their lives almost as if nothing had happened. They showed up for church, they went grocery shopping, they went out to eat. Sarah was looking a little more ragged than usual, but that was to be expected. Jack rarely sang anymore.

This went on for a couple of weeks. They had left the hospital with nothing, not even a certificate that the baby had even existed. They would have named her Olivia. Jack thought about building something in remembrance of her, but he never got around to it. Sarah stopped working at the bakery, and usually stayed home to read or catch up on her sleep while Jack was out working. When they were home, they didn't talk much- the weight of their shared emptiness was eating them from the inside out, and there wasn't much more room for useless words.

* * *

Jack came home one day and found Sarah in a drunken stupor. She was trying to find something to drown her emotions in, and a bottle of vodka just about did it. He held back her hair while she threw it up, gave her some water, and put her to bed. _I have to do something._ _But what?_ He didn't trust any doctors to give her depression medication, but he couldn't just let her go on like this. They needed something good in their life. They needed to try and have another child.

After the first incident, Sarah promised she wouldn't drink again, but night after night, Jack came home to find her with an empty glass in her hand, stumbling over her words and leaning haphazardly against the dinner table for support. She was in no state to bear a child, much less try and go through the act of conceiving one. It was no use, Jack decided.

* * *

Returning home from work one day, he walked in to find that Sarah wasn't home. He wondered where she had run off to, but in a few hours she returned, actually smiling. He stared at her as she walked in the doorway, beaming.

"You're not drunk again, are you?" he asked, skeptical. Sarah giggled.

"No, silly. I've just figured out that life is way too short to go around moping around like I was. Olivia would have been beautiful, but honey, I'm sure she's looking down at us right now shaking her pretty little head wondering what's gotten into us. She wants us to live our lives! Try for another child!" Her voice was high pitched and she was speaking extremely fast .

"But sweetheart-"

"But nothing! You know what I think we should do? We should move. We should get out of this house of bad memories and broken dreams. It's tainting our lives. We need a fresh start!"

Jack thought she sounded like one of those self-help tapes and started thinking she really might be drunk. Sarah started to walk around the living room, running her hands on everything she came into contact with, knocking over picture frames while she was doing so. She was mumbling something under her breath- Jack cautiously moved closer to her so he could hear.

"New start, new start…" she was muttering. Jack was alarmed. He had never heard her go on like this, and began to think something was really wrong.

"Sweetheart, what's gotten into you? Where were you this afternoon? Where did you go?" Jack looked at her sweetly and attempted to take her twitching hands into his. She yanked them away.

"Nothing, honey! Nothing, nothing. I was nowhere. Nowhere. So strange that nothingness and things that have to do with nothing start with that "n" noise…" she started to make nasal "ng" noises, clucking her tongue and holding it onto the roof of her mouth, sustaining the note. Jack was extremely worried now. He looked at her eyes – they looked crazed.

"Lie down, won't you honey? You seem a bit manic."

Her eyes flashed towards him as her hand, still clutching a picture frame, whipped out at him. The frame hit him square on the side of the head, the glass shattering near his eye. All he saw were shards of glass in his field of vision, a dull ache on the side of his face, and her frenzied, wide eyes, staring at him. Stunned, she turned on her heel and left the room, dropping the ruined frame as she went. Jack put his hand to the side of his face to feel the damage- a shard was sticking out of his cheek. He pulled it out gently with ease. He glanced down at the photo she had been clutching – a photo of the two of them, on their wedding day. He figured she needed some time to cool down, so instead of following her, he sat down on the couch for a long while, and thought.

* * *

After a few hours and hearing nothing from the bedroom into which Sarah had gone, Jack decided to check on her. He mentally prepared himself for her to hit him again, but he reminded himself that he wouldn't say anything as stupid as "You seem a bit manic". He knocked on their bedroom door. No answer. He knocked again, and softly called her name. No answer. He tried the doorknob – locked. He sighed. She really didn't want him in there.

"Sarah, I know you're angry with me, but I'd really love to talk about what happened today with you. Please open the door."

No answer.

"Please, Sarah- I love you, please don't make me beg."

No answer. He tried the doorknob once more, finding it to be no more unlocked than it was a minute ago. He decided to raise his voice.

"Sarah, if you don't open this door right now, I'm going to break it down myself."

No answer. He was starting to get worried.

"Sarah, open this door right now!"

"RIGHT. NOW."

He took a step back, braced himself, raised his leg and kicked, hard, with all the strength he could muster. The door swung open to reveal Sarah lying on the bed with her clothes on, white as a sheet.

He almost lost his balance again, remembering the scene not too long ago that took place on that very bed, but managed to take a few steps into the bedroom, taking in everything that he saw.

An empty vodka bottle was lying near her head, and three empty prescription medicine bottles were on the side table. Touching her hand, he noticed she was stiff as a board. She had been dead for a few hours, at least. He moved to the side of the bed- those prescription bottles weren't familiar to him at all. He picked one of them up, and what he saw made his head reel again.

PRESCRIBING DOCTOR: DR. Z. FINKELSTEIN

All emotions left him except one: Rage.

All thought left him except one: He would get his revenge, and soon.

* * *

The plan was made.

Jack had thought of nothing else since his wife's death – in fact, she was still lying right where he had left her- on the bed, with the empty bottles surrounding her.

He would avenge her death, and Olivia's death, if it was the last thing he did.

On a dark night, he left his house and walked in the direction of Dr. Finkelstein's. His wife was home, and was about 8 months pregnant by now. Perfect. The Doctor wouldn't get in for a few hours, as he was on the night shift at the hospital, but Jack would wait patiently until he arrived home. While he waited, he watched Mrs. Finkelstein.

She was an average woman- average beauty, average size. He couldn't understand how she would marry a man who looked like Finkelstein, bald and short, but he figured it had something to do with the money. She probably didn't love him at all – Jack was probably going to be doing her a favor.

He glanced at the supplies in his hands. Everything would be right in the world again very, very soon. He was merely doing the world a _favor…_

Not too long afterward, a car pulled up in the driveway near Jack's hiding place. Finkelstein had returned home. He got out of the car and shuffled towards his front door. Jack put down his supplies and stood up, walking over towards the front lawn to make it seem like he had just walked over to the house. Finkelstein saw him coming – just like Jack wanted him to. He hesitated, probably ruminating over the last words that Jack said to him. Jack smiled as he approached, and saw Finkelstein's face falter. He had him right in his grasp.

"Doctor. I'm afraid I owe you an apology," Jack began, holding out his palms, asking for forgiveness. Dr. Finkelstein's eyes flicked down to Jack's hands, seeing them empty. He seemed to relax a bit.

"Whatever for, my boy?" Jack smiled.

"For how I've acted the last few months. After Olivia died-" (the doctor nodded his head and muttered, "Yes, tragic, tragic…") "I felt like I couldn't go on. I moped around for months. I thought there was nobody to turn to. I even _threatened_ you…" Jack phrased it to seem like it had been a ridiculous notion to even think about. Finkelstein's mouth was twitching into a smile. Jack continued.

"And now that my precious Sarah has succumbed to the pressure, I realized that I can't go back down the same road as she did. And I was wondering if you could help me."

Dr. Finkelstein studied him for a moment, and said,

"Of course, my boy. Anything for you. On the house. What do you need?"

Jack almost jumped for joy. Things were going perfectly.

"I need something to help me forget about my troubles and move on with my life. I've found a house in the neighboring town, and plan to move there within a week's time. I need a new start. But, I can't get a new start without being about to completely forget what's happened to me in the past few months. Can you help me?" Jack looked at him eagerly, with a hint of sadness to seal the deal.

"Why, I have just the thing! The only condition is, you simply _mustn't _take it with alcohol. It could very likely kill you. The chemicals in my forgetful pill simply don't mix with alcohol. In fact, I gave some of these to your Sarah just the other day- simply a pity that she… well, that she…"

"Killed herself," Jack finished for him, "Yes. I know. One of the things I'd like to forget…Tell me, how do these pills work?"

"Well, you take one pill in the morning with food, and you forget something every day. You actually get rather giddy by the end of the prescription because you will have forgotten about every bad thing that's ever happened to you in your life. It's quite the miracle pill!"

Jack's mind flashed back to Sarah's last day, her unexplained giddiness and her manic behavior.

"Any other side effects?" He asked, his heart leaping in his chest. He could feel himself starting to work out what had _really _happened with his Sarah.

"Oh, a few, as with any medication – nausea, dizziness, giddiness, forgetfulness – but none too dramatic. You also shouldn't take it with alcohol, as this amplifies those symptoms. You're lucky, I only have one more stack of these in my home – for some reason I've misplaced a handful of them – but if you wait right out here I can grab these for you in a jiffy. Anything for an... old friend." Finkelstein said, peering up at him with a small smile.

Jack's head was reeling. It wasn't Finkelstein's fault- it was Sarah who had taken the pills from Finkelstein's house, and overdosed on them. _But Finkelstein shouldn't be making these crackpot pills in the first place! _Jack glanced down at the man, and smiled. Finkelstein took this as a sign of agreement, turned, and went inside his house, leaving Jack standing alone.

Jack wrestled with his conscience.

_Finkelstein should pay for what he did to my family. If it wasn't for him, we would have a healthy baby girl, and my wife would be alive._

_Unless,_ another voice said, _you wouldn't have been able to have a child at all without Finkelstein's help._

_Yes, _Jack thought, _but at least I would still have my wife and we would be happy together._

_Didn't seem so happy around the last few weeks._

_That's because we had just lost a child! We would have been fine had it not been for that. We would have adopted, for God's sake._

Jack waited to hear the opposing side's argument, but it never came. In this, he was justified for what he was about to do. Finkelstein had just gone into the house, and therefore the plan was in motion.

* * *

Jack waited for Finkelstein to come out of his house, with his new forgetful medication. Everything was ready. All that Jack had to do now was wait.

Finkelstein's shadow loomed out from behind his front door. Jack stood very straight. Finkelstein opened the door and stepped outside.

"Here you are…" he said, holding out the small orange prescription bottle. Jack took it with one hand, holding the other behind his back. "Has your name and everything. Now, if you have any questions…"

But Dr. Finkelstein couldn't finish what he was going to say. Holding the prescription in his left hand, Jack swung his right hand forward towards the doctor's left leg, wielding a hatchet. The axe struck the side of the doctor's leg, and he fell, howling. Jack wasted no time- pocketing the prescription, he retrieved the axe as he barreled over the crippled doctor and ran through his front door.

The screams led him to her. Mrs. Finkelstein, awakened by the noise on the front porch, was rushing down the hallway to tend to her husband, who she had just witnessed being attacked by a tall, thin man with an axe. Jack found her first. She turned, terrified, to run the opposite direction, but felt the axe strike her in the back, and she fell onto her pregnant belly, paralyzed with fear and pain. She felt herself being dragged the opposite direction, towards the front door where her husband lay in a pool of blood.

The screams were sure to wake the neighbors, but Jack didn't care. He wanted them to see. He didn't care if he died attempting to do what needed to be done.

He dragged Mrs. Finkelstein over her husband and onto the front lawn. He called down to the doctor, still writing in pain from the blow to his leg-

"How does it feel now, doctor? To witness your wife going through unbearable-" he struck her in the leg – "pain-" he struck her again- "and you be completely-" he struck her a third time- "and utterly-" the fatal blow came down, along with the doctor's howling screams- "HELPLESS?"

Mrs. Finkelstein lay motionless at Jack's feet, her blood pooling around him. There was no hope for her. Jack could hear the doctor's desolate moans coming from the front porch, but his job wasn't yet over. He left her laying there, her lifeless eyes staring out into the distance towards her husband.

He walked over to the side of the house where he had kept his axe, and picked up the gas container in his left hand, keeping the now bloody axe in his right. He walked over to where the doctor lay, on the front porch, bleeding and moaning in agony. His left leg looked like it wouldn't be used again for a very long time. Jack decided that it should be even, and delivered another blow to the doctor's right leg. The doctor screamed, but kept his eyes on Jack, filled now with a terrible rage.

"Your- wife-" Dr. Finkelstein said, in puffs of breath as he tried to keep the pain at bay- "your- wife… she was… an _idiot_. She… came to me… looking… for an escape…and she… found it… didn't… she?"

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was the doctor confessing to malpractice?

"You-" Jack began, but he didn't have to finish.

"Me. Your life was doomed the day you tried to conceive a child with help from _me_."

"But why?"

"You had… the perfect life… and the… perfect marriage! You didn't… need… a child! I needed… a child! I gave the… pills to _my_ wife…, and I… gave your wife… pills for schizo…phrenia."

Jack was furious. So the Doctor _had _decieved them, just as Jack had secretly suspected. The doctor smiled, and began to … laugh?

Filled with blind rage, Jack immediately doused the gas container completely over the laughing maniac of a doctor who was bleeding profusely from both legs, and lit a match. He laughter ceased, but the smile was etched onto his face as he burned.

As the sirens started to wail, Jack took out the bottle of pills he had put in his pocket, hesitated slightly, thought, _What do I have to lose?_ and took the whole bottle. He then doused the other gas containers all over the Doctor's house and watched it burn to the ground. Finally, justice had been served.

One week later, after the trials, Jack was twice found guilty of murder and arson, and sentenced to death by electric chair. Having no other alternative, he accepted his fate and hoped that he would soon see his late wife and child. By this point, he had almost forgotten the horrific things that he had done and was approaching a sense of euphoria…

As he moved toward the white light, all he could see were pumpkins…

* * *

Jack found himself standing in the clearing of trees, dumbfounded. What had just happened? Had he gone back in time? Who was that? He had the same name and was the same height, but he was a regular man- and who was Sarah? He had never seen her before in his life. His _life_…

Jack realized something instantly. He had just witnessed his life before Halloween Town. He had just witnessed how he – and Dr. Finkelstein – had died.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, sorry for the 5 and a half year delay! I got stuck (as usual) and even though I had all the notes in front of me, I just couldn't get the story off its feet. So I kind of skipped ahead and told Jack's back story.. maybe this will be me inspired to write the rest of it. My life is kind of crazy – the last time I wrote this story I was in high school, and now I've graduated from college! And I'm about to move to France for a year, so we'll see if it takes me a long time to update. Sorry for the grammar and maybe sloppy writing- I was checking my old e-mail account and saw that I still get reviews – even 5 years later – so I just started writing today and this is what I came up with. Hope you guys like it!


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